P1. Track Keynote: Hear how Harvard Business Review and WGBH have Transformed Digital Engagement
Tuesday, December, 2: 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Engaging customers and online audiences requires the right mix of technology, content, and tools, orchestrated in a way that leverages deep customer knowledge to deliver the right content at the right time in the right fashion. That’s a tall order, yet it is a “do or die” imperative for organizations that use content to make a living. In this session, you’ll learn how to transform and optimize customer digital engagement from presentations by two leading-edge organizations that are paving the way to the future using a blend of customer-centric design, dynamic and targeted content, big data and analytics, agile technologies and processes, and a vision for the future. These presentations will inspire you to kick-start your own digital engagement transformation initiatives!
You'll also meet the HBR.org development team: Daigo Fujiwara, Kevin Davis, Matt Wagner, Fred Lalande, and Ismail Ozyigit.
Moderator:Marc Strohlein, Principal, Agile Business Logic and Principal, Agile Business Logic
Speakers:Kevin Newman, Director of Technology, Harvard Business PublishingRebranding and Rebuilding Harvard Business ReviewCate Twohill, Managing Partner, CRM Services, WGBH Educational FoundationBig Data & Customer Engagement Lessons from a U.S. Media PowerhouseGeorge Corugedo, CTO, RedPoint Global Inc.Big Data & Customer Engagement Lessons from a U.S. Media Powerhouse
T2. Update on Wearables and Internet of Things Applications and Platforms
Tuesday, December, 2: 2:40 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.
We all know that wearables and other “internet things” are already here and will accelerate to liftoff velocity soon. But there is a lot we don’t know yet: Which wearables will catch on? What types of user interfaces will need to be supported? How will content and data be encoded and managed to support multiple devices with dramatically different physical characteristics and computing capabilities? What new platforms or frameworks will emerge? What will be the first mainstream industry applications? Our two speakers are intimately involved in these and related questions and will help you think about what’s coming when and how the main computing platform vendors are positioning themselves for battle.
Moderator:Tim Bourgeois, Executive Editor, ChiefDigitalOfficer.net and East Coast Catalyst
Speakers:Adam Buhler, Vice President, Creative Technology / Labs / Mobile, DigitasLBiUpcoming Frameworks / Platforms: Apple, Samsung, Google, WebMD?Raimund Gross, Solution Architect | Futurist, Products & Innovation, SAP SEInsight at First Sight - Digital Eyewear as the Next Interaction Paradigm
E4. Ways to Increase Reach and Collaboration
Wednesday, December, 3: 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Sveta Kouznetsova: 8:30 – 9:00, Accessible Content: Quality Captioning and Transcription as Universal Design
To attract a wider audience, you need to make your aural information - audio, video, events - accessible via quality captioning and transcription. It is not necessarily for those with hearing difficulties. It also helps foreign language speakers, remedial readers, individuals with learning disabilities, those in noisy or quiet environments, and many more. Just being able to hear is not enough. Businesses would also benefit from captioning as it improves user experience and SEO of their aural information and attracts more loyal customers. Sveta will dispel common myths about deaf and hard of hearing people, share personal experiences, and discuss case studies of good quality captioning that goes beyond universal access and can be enjoyed by anyone and anywhere regardless of hearing abilities. Come and check the presentation signed by the deaf speaker, voiced by interpreters, and open captioned in real time. Let’s think outside of the ears!
Donald DePalma: 9:00 – 9:30, Can't Read, Won't Buy: Why Language Matters on Global Websites
If you read English natively, you have enjoyed the best of the web since its creation. Content in this language has dominated the medium for nearly two decades while companies have catered to English-speaking markets and the enormous spending they generate. However, many corporations realize that billions of people don’t read English at all or well enough to make buying decisions, so they’re increasing the amount of information that they offer in other languages. As they reach out to global prospects, the big question is: If they localize their websites, will more buyers come? If they translate product literature, will they sell more? How much will localization help them grow? Common Sense Advisory surveyed consumers in 10 non-English-speaking countries to test the hypothesis that companies can increase their sales by localizing their products and websites. In this presentation, Dr. DePalma summarizes the results of this 2014 survey, analyzes the linguistic preferences of consumers, and discusses the impact on their online behavior.
Moderator:Mary Laplante, Vice President Client Services, Digital Clarity Group
Speakers:Svetlana Kouznetsova, User Experience & Accessibility Specialist, Freelancer/ConsultantAccessible Content: Quality Captioning and Transcription as Universal DesignDonald A DePalma, Chief Research Officer, Common Sense Advisory, Inc.Can't Read, Won't Buy: Why Language Matters on Global Websites
T6. Big Data and Customer Engagement
Wednesday, December, 3: 11:40 a.m. - 12:40 p.m.
In this session we focus on what it actually means to use huge amounts of data to better engage customers. Wesley Moore from Teradata explains what infrastructure components need to be in place for data-driven marketing. ShopAdvisor's Peter O'Kelly then takes us through the details of how they are currently using big data, what they’ve learned about interpreting the data, and how to guard against misinterpreting it.
Moderator:Stephen Cummings, Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing, Fingent Corporation
Speakers:Wesley Moore, Vice President, IMM & Digital Marketing Solutions, TeradataUsing Data to Deliver Marketing Relevancy and Optimizing Customer ExperiencePeter O'Kelly, Independent Consultant, O'Kelly AssociatesBig Data and Customer Engagement: New Opportunities and Challenges
C8. Responsive Design Practices and Options
Wednesday, December, 3: 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Responsive design is trickier than you might think. Evolving web standards, multiple mobile operating systems and development frameworks, and rapidly proliferating types of devices with unpredictable display characteristics, processing capabilities, and features all conspire to force tradeoffs, and mean ongoing development and maintenance. This session looks at a number of the constraints, including performance issues, reliability of user agent detection, and utility of available device information.
Speakers:Tim Wright, Development Director, Fresh Tilled Soil and Pearson Publishing, Refresh Boston, AIGA Boston, Global Accessibility Awareness DayHow To Deliver Fast, Engaging Responsive Web Design SitesWilliam Thayer, Principal Consultant Technologist, Avalon Consulting, LLC.Multi-Channel Distribution and Customer Engagement
C11. User Experience Design and Engagement
Wednesday, December, 3: 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
David Polcaro examines marketing goals (gathering contact information, qualifying leads, encouraging conversions,etc.)that are not always aligned with a great experience for end users of a website, app or other digital platform. Learn how UX pros approach the challenge of advocating for the best user experience while simultaneously addressing conflicting marketing goals.
Next, Jessica Langdorf reports on a recent study looking at how customer experience in live chat affects conversion. Findings include: branded chat windows delivered +13% more chat orders than generic ones; optimal placement of a chat window on the screen is the bottom-right corner, resulting in 38% more conversions; allowing users to interact within a chat window that is layered on top of the web page content produces 27% more conversions than a secondary browser; and chat button design and placement has a significant impact on engagement and conversation rates.
Speakers:David Polcaro, Creative Director / Founder, East Coast CatalystUX versus MarketingJessica Langdorf, Director, Digital Engagement Lab, Enterpise Division, Nuance CommunicationsCustomer Experience & Conversion: How Live Chat Window Design & Placement Can Impact Customer Engagement